Fully Toaded: The Princess and the Frog
2November 13, 2021 by abs6978
Disney’s The Princess and the Frog puts a twist on the classic fairy tale of the same name. Tiana (played by Anika Noni Rose) is a young Black woman living in early 20th century New Orleans. After saving up for a long time, she is finally able to quit her job as a waitress and have her own restaurant. That is until she comes across a frog who happens to be a voodoo cursed prince. In an effort to restore him to his human form she kisses him, but the curse transforms her into a frog as well. The two go on a journey throughout the bayous of Louisiana to find a way to undo the magic and defeat ‘the Shadow Man.’
It’s easy to look at the history of cinema and point out racist stereotypes. Let’s face it, Hollywood has been pumping out stereotype filled films for over a century at this point. Older movies are rife with issues and even newer movies fall into similar tropes. I’ve covered a few in earlier blog posts (see my posts on Soul Man or The Toy), but this movie presents a more subtle issue. The Princess and the Frog features Tiana as the first Black Disney princess — beyond that, it is one of Disney’s few movies to even star Black main characters — yet for the majority of the movie she’s not Black.
She’s green!
Why is this an issue? As a cis-het white guy, I don’t have to look very hard to find myself represented in any form of media. For POC and people in other minority groups it’s not as easy. Imagine finally finding a cartoon that portrays someone like you only for them to transform into a frog after half an hour. As Andrew Tejada puts it, “During the first section of the movie, audiences see her struggle against sexism and racial prejudice… But the potential to do a deeper dive into how she navigates this world is abruptly pushed aside so we can see the transformed frog-Tiana watch a jazz-loving alligator play the trumpet.”
a jazz-loving alligator playing the trumpet
The Princess and the Frog is not the only animated movie to feature this transformation-trope. Pixar’s Soul released just recently and features a similar transformation (first into a fuzzy blue soul and later into a cat), and there are a number of other examples. I highly encourage you to read through Tejada’s article on this topic. Tejada, a Black and Puerto Rican man, provides insight into this subject as well as reflecting on a recent animated film that he believes does a great job at representing someone like him.
Regardless of this negative trope, it should be no surprise that this movie is really good. Traditionally animated Disney movies tend to knock it out of the park, and this is no exception. Critically it received similar praise with an 85% from critics and a 74% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, but the fact that this type of POC transformation has become a trend in animated films hasn’t gone unnoticed. There’s no harm in giving it another watch if you are a sucker for this type of animation and catchy Disney musical numbers like I am though.
Special thanks to my friend Hannah for suggesting this topic.
Category Movies, New Movies | Tags:
Hey Aiden! I remember when this movie first came out, everyone was so excited including me. I think it’s a great thing for Disney, a huge company directed towards children, to diversify their princesses. I strongly believe that children of all races should be able to have a princess they can connect to personally. I understand what you’re saying here, but I also think for this being the first African American princess story they did a great job. And frankly, it’s plot focuses on the traditional Frog Princess story line, just with a twist, so it makes sense that a lot of the movie would be focusing on that. However, there is still quite a bit of the film that is extremely diverse. Many parts of this film that don’t revolve around Tiana and the prince, actually do revolve around different groups of people in New Orleans. All in all, I think for 2009 this was pretty good although I do see your point in some ways. Great blog this week, I’ve really enjoyed reading all of the reviews and learning about different films that I may or may not have viewed before.
Hey Aiden! I can’t even explain how much I love this movie. I have probably watched it at least 10 times with my sisters, and it’ll never get old. The whole setting in New Orlean with witches, the bayou, and “the other side” has entranced me every time. I have also watched The Originals (look it up), which is also set in New Orleans and follows the story of vampires, witches, and more with some similarities. I never really thought of the movie as one that tried to move away from its Black woman lead and turned her into a frog to minimize the attention on her, but now I kind of see it. However, I don’t think that this was the intention of the directors, and they tried to celebrate a different and diverse story. Here are a couple more things that people have had to say, https://www.disneyinyourday.com/thoughts-on-princess-and-the-frog/.